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I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of Prison Officers employed by SPS since 2010. Reported staffing numbers reflect the position as at 31 March in each year.

HMP Aberdeen closed in January 2014.

HMP YOI Grampian officially opened in March 2014.

HMP Low Moss officially opened in March 2012.

HMP Peterhead closed in December 2013.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

Following a long period of sustained upward growth, the average annual prison population peaked 2011-2012 with the highest ever in custody figure of 8420 in March 2012. The population has subsequently reduced and continues to do so and is now on average around 7,500.

Following the opening of HMP & YOI Grampian in 2014, only 5 prisons remained overcapacity compared to 11 in 2011, with a further reduction to 3 prisons in 2015. The published figures for 2016 show only 2 prisons remaining overcapacity. These were HMP Barlinnie and HMP Inverness. Both prisons are required to manage the demands of the local courts and in the case of HMP Inverness, the prison covers a large geographic area.

SPS has no evidence to suggest that occupancy levels have negatively impacted wellbeing. HMIPS carries out a programme of regular inspections in all establishments and reports against set standards. In addition, Independent Prison Monitors are also available to all prisoners and report any concerns to both the local government and the Chief Inspector of Prisons. SPS also carries our regular Prisoner Surveys and has an established process whereby prisoners can make complaints.

The population of female prisoners is not projected separately as part of the main projections published by Scottish Government. Since 2011-12, the female population has been falling more sharply compared to men, between 2% and 6% per year (from 469 for 2011-12 to 404 in 2015-16). A copy of the latest prison population and prisons projections can be found in the following link:http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00491398.pdf

There are currently 204 vehicles in the Scottish Government fleet, of which 17 (8%) are petrol, 161 (79%) are diesel and 26 (13%) are electric (either fully electric or plug-in hybrids).

There are currently 5 vehicles in the Transport Scotland fleet, of which 3 (60%) are diesel and 2 (40%) are fully electric.

Transport Scotland are also working with the Energy Saving Trust and the trunk road companies, Bear and Transerv, and CH2M in their role as Performance Audit Group, to carry out sustainable transport reviews and identify opportunities for the introduction of electric vehicles into their fleets.

We do not hold information on the composition of other public sector fleets in Scotland.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The radical proposals that we are developing for the national facility for both women in custody in Scotland and the community custodial units will be, we believe, world leading in the services that they offer to women.

Since these proposals are still being refined and developed, it is not possible at this stage to provide exact figures for the running costs of these facilities.

The Scottish Government's policy on Ministerial clearance of responses to FOI requests is set out at Step 33 of our Step-by-Step Guide to answering FOI requests, which is published on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.gov.scot/About/Information/FOI/Training.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07455 on 8 March 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government is engaging with local authorities and other key stakeholders to identify an early adopter low-emission zone location for Scotland’s first low-emission zone in 2018. A number of local authorities have already expressed an interest in their Local Air Quality Management 2016 report to explore the feasibility of a low-emission zone.

The low-emission zone would seek to restrict certain vehicles that did not meet the low-emission zone standards, and issue a penalty charge if those vehicles then entered a low-emission zone. Petrol and diesel vehicles which meet the low-emission zone standards would be allowed to enter the low-emission zone.

The Scottish Government, as part of meeting Climate Change targets, is committed to freeing Scotland’s towns, cities and communities from the damaging emissions of petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles by 2050 and to phasing out half of all fossil fuelled vehicles from urban environments across Scotland by 2030. We have no current plans to phase out petrol or diesel vehicles by 2025.

The answer to PQ S5W-06471 directed Mr McArthur to the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) website, where SPS record information about the details of deaths of prisoners in their custody. This website includes the date that SPS have recorded that an Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) has been concluded. It records 32 cases between 2013 and 2015 without a date for conclusion of the FAI. I proceed on the assumption that Mr. McArthur’s question refers to this data.

As will be evident from my answer to question S5W-07136 on 8 March 2017, in eleven of those cases, a FAI has, in fact, been concluded and in eight of those cases the Sheriff’s determination has also been issued. In two cases, FAI proceedings have commenced and preliminary hearings have been heard. In both of those cases a FAI is scheduled to commence in March 2017. In one case a FAI has already commenced and is ongoing.

Since April 2012 all non-suspicious deaths reported to the Procurator Fiscal have been investigated by dedicated specialists in the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU). In August last year, the Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland reported that: "The introduction of SFIU, a national specialist unit responsible for investigating all sudden, suspicious and unexplained deaths, has significantly improved the service provided by COPFS with a 64% reduction in the time taken between the date of death to the start of the FAI."

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government meets regularly with the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Development International, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise to discuss a range of matters, including the Enterprise and Skills Review.

The Review is overseen by the Ministerial Review Group, comprising a wide range of key stakeholders including all enterprise and skills agencies, to ensure that the Review is robust, produces sound and evidence-based recommendations, and is driven forward with energy and creativity.

The Ministerial Review Group has met on seven occasions since being formed in July 2016, with the next meeting taking place on 23 February 2017. Notes of previous meetings are available at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Economy/EntandSkillsreview/docsfrommeetings

In addition to this, there have been a further nine meetings with all agencies represented at which the Review was discussed. Notes of these meetings are not published.